Fertility Awareness: Jet-Age Rhythm Method?

Abstract

The optimal use of natural family planning (NFP) requires the daily measurement of basal body temperature combined with examination of cervical mucus to estimate the onset of ovulation. Popularity and efficacy of the method are low mainly because of the required lengthy abstinence from intravaginal coitus; reliance upon the sympto-thermal method of NFP requires an average of 17 days of such abstinence. The accurate measurement of certain biochemical changes however could reduce the required period of abstinence by more than 50% and boost the popularity and use of NFP. Home tests could be used to detect hormonal changes in a womans saliva and urine over the course of her menstrual cycle. Indeed it is now possible to accurately measure the increase in progesterone metabolites in a few drops of urine. The use of two dipsticks to measure estradiol and progesterone levels in saliva would however be ideal. Research and development efforts are needed to that end. This latter approach would require no toxicology US Food and Drug Administration scrutiny should be much shorter than with drugs legal exposure would be minimal and the undertaking is within the technical and financial resources of relatively small diagnostic companies. The level of market demand for such home tests remains undetermined. Women attempting to avoid unwanted pregnancies as well as female athletes flight attendants traversing multiple time zones on a regular basis and professional women postponing childbearing until their late thirties can all potentially benefit from tools capable of increasing their individual awareness of their fertile periods.